Sushma Meets US Secretary Of State Rex Tillerson

New Delhi: India’s External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj met United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday.

Swaraj’s meeting with Tillerson was held on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly and was crucial as it comes after U.S. President Donald Trump’s urged India to do more in Afghanistan last month.

“We appreciate India’s important contributions to stability in Afghanistan, but India makes billions of dollars in trade with the United States, and we want them to help us more with Afghanistan, especially in the area of economic assistance and development,” Trump said on August 21.

It will be the first bilateral meeting between India and the U.S. after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in June. Swaraj is in New York for the 72nd annual session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Earlier, Trump’s daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump met Swaraj on the sidelines of the ongoing annual United Nations General Assembly session. After the meeting, Ivanka took to Twitter and said that she has always respected Swaraj, adding that the EAM was charismatic and accomplished.

“I have long respected India’s accomplished and charismatic Foreign Minister @SushmaSwaraj, and it was an honor to meet her today,” Ivanka tweeted. Ivanka discussed the issue of women empowerment with Sushma Swaraj.